Fadnavis Confident of Keeping CM Post, Says No 50-50 Formula Was Agreed With Shiv Sena

Maharashtra’s caretaker Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis believes he will form the next state government with the Shiv Sena’s backing, and the BJP and the Uddhav Thackeray-led party never agreed to a 50-50 power-sharing formula, BJP sources said in Mumbai. According to the sources, Fadnavis has rejected the idea that the party needs a fallback plan, even as the Sena continues to press its demands.

The standoff

The BJP won 105 seats and the Sena 56 in the new Assembly, and the two allies have been locked in a bitter dispute over power sharing since results were declared on October 24. Since then, some voices in the Congress and the NCP have suggested, unofficially, that any Sena attempt to explore options beyond the BJP might be received positively.

The sources said a meeting planned for October 30 between Thackeray and Amit Shah, BJP president and Union Home Minister, had been postponed, though formal and informal contacts with the Sena were continuing. No date had been fixed for the swearing-in.

The Sena’s warning

On Monday, Sena leader Sanjay Raut cautioned the BJP not to push his party into searching for another route to power. Speaking to a news channel, he said the Sena believed in the alliance because the two parties had fought the election together, but warned that the BJP “should not compel us to commit the sin of looking for an alternative”.

He also remarked that “no one is a saint in politics”, which was seen as a signal that such a move could not be ruled out. Raut maintained that the two parties had agreed to share power equally and had even announced this in Mumbai.

What happened next

The BJP-Shiv Sena alliance broke down, and Uddhav Thackeray became Chief Minister in November 2019 with support from the NCP and the Congress.

See also: Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party.

Originally published on 29 October 2019. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

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